A teacher at a Catholic high school in Waukesha, Wisconsin, was dismissed from his job just days after making a photo post to social media of several men in downtown Waukesha who he alleged were undercover ICE agents but turned out to be employees of a local emergency management firm, according to news outlet TMJ4 News, an NBC affiliate.
School officials confirmed to TMJ4 News that Rico Camacho is no longer employed at Catholic Memorial High School as a social studies teacher but could not comment further on whether the employment termination was due to the social media post.
Camacho, an alderman, told the outlet that the school terminated his employment several days after making the post.
According to local outlet The Freeman, Camacho had posted the photo to Facebook and wrote, “Everyone please please stay alert, stay inside ICE is in Waukesha in the corner of (people’s park) they are undercover.”
According to TMJ4 News, the men in the photo are employees of Secure Resources Unlimited and they were on their way to lunch when the photo was taken. The outlet reports that the owner of the firm informed Camacho of this and Camacho deleted the post.
On Oct. 15, Camacho posted an apology on Facebook.
“So, I want to be clear that I received information from concerned constituent because there was a belief that ICE was by people’s park,” he wrote. “I was completely incorrect that these people WERE NOT ICE agents.”
“I should have done my due diligence and checked to verify, but I overreacted,” he added. “I apologize to anyone and the men in the photo going to lunch that may have felt a potential harm to the situation. I will ensure I take this as a learning opportunity and take full responsibility for this.”
In a statement to The Freeman, Camacho said one of his constituents alerted him of the alleged ICE agents, and he agreed to spotlight the post for them.
“I was shown no proof or evidence that they were ICE agents, and I was skeptical myself,” he said. “My goal has always been to keep our community safe, in every capacity — and that’s what that post was designed to do. Once the post was made, individuals from all over the city, of both political sides were alarmed — and I apologize for adding to that stress.”
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